WI-SD08: Wisconsin State Senate Democrats can block GOP supermajority.

Prior to Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, resigning earlier this month, Republicans were on path to start the session with a veto-proof majority. Now, that will be at stake in an April 4 special election with attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin the only Dem in the field for the open seat in suburban Milwaukee. Five Republicans have announced plans to run in a Feb. 21 primary: state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, of Menomonee Falls; former state Sen. Randy Hopper, of River Hills; state Rep. Dan Knodl, of Germantown; Thiensville Village President Van Mobley; and Concordia University student Robert Albrightson.

In the run-up to the fall elections, Dems seemed more willing to put resources into Assembly races, believing that was the party’s best shot at preventing a veto-proof majority because of the challenge of the Senate maps.

Agard said she’s already had conversations with parties interested in the special election about what’s at stake, including the guv’s veto and denying Senate Republicans impeachment powers.

She also expects abortion to be an issue in the race, as well as in the Supreme Court contest.

“It’s not something we’re afraid to talk about because, frankly, we know it’s something people care about. We’re on the right side of this one,” Agard said.



https://www.wispolitics.com/2022/agard-encouraging-dems-to-boost-outreach-in-gop-districts

WI-SD08: Wisconsin State Senate Democrats can block GOP supermajority.

Prior to Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, resigning earlier this month, Republicans were on path to start the session with a veto-proof majority. Now, that will be at stake in an April 4 special election with attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin the only Dem in the field for the open seat in suburban Milwaukee. Five Republicans have announced plans to run in a Feb. 21 primary: state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, of Menomonee Falls; former state Sen. Randy Hopper, of River Hills; state Rep. Dan Knodl, of Germantown; Thiensville Village President Van Mobley; and Concordia University student Robert Albrightson.

In the run-up to the fall elections, Dems seemed more willing to put resources into Assembly races, believing that was the party’s best shot at preventing a veto-proof majority because of the challenge of the Senate maps.

Agard said she’s already had conversations with parties interested in the special election about what’s at stake, including the guv’s veto and denying Senate Republicans impeachment powers.

She also expects abortion to be an issue in the race, as well as in the Supreme Court contest.

“It’s not something we’re afraid to talk about because, frankly, we know it’s something people care about. We’re on the right side of this one,” Agard said.



https://www.wispolitics.com/2022/agard-encouraging-dems-to-boost-outreach-in-gop-districts

GOP Lawmaker Says She Was 'Bullied' to Back McCarthy

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) claimed she received a “threatening” phone call from a female Republican lawmaker over her questionable support of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to become Speaker.

Said Luna: “I let that female member know that I wasn’t basically going to be threatened. I am not going to be bullied.”



https://politicalwire.com/2022/12/31/gop-lawmaker-says-she-was-bullied-to-back-mccarthy/

Kushner Blocked Biden Transition from Covid Info

Jared Kushner ordered that the incoming Biden administration be excluded from Covid-19 planning in the aftermath of the 2020 election, Insider reports.

Kushner said Biden’s team should “absolutely not” be looped in.



https://politicalwire.com/2022/12/31/kushner-blocked-biden-transition-from-covid-info/

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George Santos claimed he had a brain tumor

Rep.-elect George Santos’ convoluted background and history has taken another curious turn.

In a March 2020 video episode of the Empire State Conservatives Podcast — which has since been made private on YouTube — Santos tells the hosts that he “battled a brain tumor a couple of years ago.”

“I had radiation done, which really, really lowers your immunity in general,” Santos said, recounting his experience with COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic.

Santos’ campaign did not respond to questions about when he was diagnosed, what treatment he received and where. Efforts to reach Santos directly were unsuccessful.

Santos admitted to fabricating key parts of his resume earlier this week, including his work history, religious background, education and real estate holdings. He’s now facing federal and local investigations.



https://gothamist.com/news/george-santos-claimed-he-had-a-brain-tumor

Incoming Kansas attorney general fined for 2020 Senate campaign finance violations

The Federal Election Commission has levied a $30,000 fine on incoming Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and a private border wall organization he was once affiliated with due to campaign finance violations committed during his unsuccessful 2020 Senate bid.

In an agreement approved by the FEC last month, about a week after Kobach was elected, he admitted to illegally accepting an in-kind contribution from We Build the Wall, a Steve Bannon-linked group which ran a fundraising campaign to build a private border wall but became ensnarled in allegations of fraud.

CNN has reached out to attorneys for Kobach and We Build the Wall for comment.

In 2019, Kobach’s campaign rented We Build the Wall’s 295,000-person email list for just $2,000, a price significantly below the normal rate.

The campaign was also accused of additional campaign finance violations in connection with We Build the Wall, but the FEC, which is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, either dismissed those allegations or was equally divided.





https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/30/politics/kansas-attorney-general-campaign-finance-violations/index.html

George Santos claimed he was robbed of rent money in Queens eviction case - but NYPD has no record

Six years ago, Rep.-elect George Santos claimed to have been mugged on his way to pay $2,250 in back rent on his Queens apartment, according to court eviction records, but the NYPD has no record of the attack.

Santos’ claim came in a sworn statement filed in connection with his threatened eviction from a Queens apartment. He said he’d been jumped while on the way to deliver a rent check to resolve the case. He wrote in the court filing that police had told him to return four days later for a report on the supposed incident.

“I have been mugged at approx 1:15 p.m. on 01/15/16 on Queens Boro Plaza, as I was on my way to pay the lawyer,” he wrote in the affidavit filed in Queens Housing Court. “I have gone to the checks cash location located on 31st and 23rd Ave in Astoria to request a stop payment.

“I am unable to provide a police report today as I was requested to go back Tuesday to pick it up,” Santos added in the document filled out under oath.

A check cashing business exists at the location Santos noted. However, the NYPD told Gothamist that they could not find any indication that Santos ever reported being mugged.




https://gothamist.com/news/george-santos-claimed-he-was-robbed-of-rent-money-in-queens-eviction-case-but-nypd-has-no-record-of-the-attack

George Santos Called Himself Anthony Devolder

The Republican who won a congressional seat on Long Island before his claims of being a wealthy, biracial, Ukrainian descendant of Holocaust survivors were debunked had, for a while, been generally consistent about two details in his improbable life: He has long said his first name is George and his last name is Santos.

But not always.

Before George Santos, 34, made a name for himself in politics, he had insisted on being called Anthony — one of his middle names — and often used his mother’s maiden name, Devolder, eventually incorporating a company in Florida with that name.

“He hated that we called him George,” a former friend and onetime co-worker said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid being associated with him publicly. “His whole family called him Anthony. He wanted to be called Anthony. He would use the name Anthony Devolder.”



https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/31/george-santos-deception-house/